Yale’s senior injury bug claimed another victim this weekend when Casey Hughes suffered a sprained foot in the first half of the Bulldogs’ comeback win over Dartmouth on Friday. Hughes did not play in the second half or on Saturday against Harvard, and the New Haven Register reports he is questionable for Friday’s crucial Cornell game. Hughes is second on the team in scoring at 9.8 points per game and the leading rebounder at 6.1 per contest. Yale’s three seniors all are battling injuries, as Sam Kaplan hasn’t played in nearly a month due to a broken nose, and Jason Abromaitis has missed the last four games.
Facing a must-win game on Friday, James Jones really could use his senior wing out on the court. Yale was able to win on Saturday without Hughes, but beating Cornell without him is another story. It was telling that Yale’s worst defensive rebounding effort of the season came with its top rebounder sidelined. Additionally, Hughes’s defensive skills are important against a scorer like the Big Red’s Ryan Wittman.